Genesis Advanced Technologies announces the availability of the Reference-series Amplifiers. First debuted in prototype form at CES2007, and then with pre-production versions at the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest 2007 in Denver, the full line of amplifiers is now in production.

"As loudspeaker manufacturers, we are at the very end of the chain, and at the mercy of all the electronic bits that come before. This is something that has been mentioned by numerous reviewers," said Mr. Gary Leonard Koh, President of Genesis, "To address this, we proved with the Limited Edition M60 and I60 tube amplifiers that all Genesis loudspeakers needed was a well-designed and well-executed amplifier. We built those amplifiers so well that most were sold to non-Genesis owners, and they are driving speakers that are reputed to be very difficult loads. One pair of our $4,000 monoblocks is the foundation of a $120,000 stereo system!!"

"As a follow-up to the tube amps, the Genesis Reference Amplifiers had to be better in every respect," continued Mr Koh.

"In order to test the amplifier in front of as many different loudspeakers and critical ears as possible, I demo’ed them in pre-production form to quite a number of dealers, and the acceptance has been universal," enthused Mr Brian Tucker, Director of National Sales for Genesis. "I would not say that they have a tube sound per se, but they have the linearity of timbre and texture of good tube amplifiers. They are detailed without being etched, and have a wonderful musical aliveness that everybody acknowledged. They also drove all loudspeakers from high-efficiency horn loaded ones to inefficient behemoths perfectly."

"The Genesis Reference Amplifier is everything for everyone. It has the musicality and tonal colors of a tube amplifier, but the control and dynamics of solid-state," said Mr Koh. "A lot of it boiled down to the break-through design in the power supply. I have to give a lot of the credit to the brilliant British power engineer, Nigel Pearson, for working with me on the power supply. It took over a year, but we have designed a high-current power supply that delivers into dynamic, non-linear musical loads. We also developed a regulated voltage source that has a noise floor of –90dB from 10Hz to over 1Mhz."

"We try to make ownership of the Genesis Reference Amplifier as painless as possible," said Mr Koh. "You can start at the basic level, and then upgrade in steps. For example, the extended power supply – the Maximum Dynamic Headroom Reservoir – can be easily user-installed. Adding the MDHR results in an amplifier that delivers even more of a punch. Another benefit is a smoothness and lushness that you will miss when it is removed, adding the MDHR is like adding cream to your coffee when you are used to non-fat soy. However, if you have not yet experienced it, you won’t be hankering for it in the basic edition of the amplifier."

The Genesis Reference Amplifier is custom-configured and built to order. A basic version stereo power amplifier with 180W per channel will retail for $3,600 and Statement-level monoblock power amplifiers are $19,000 for a 360W pair. Complete specifications for the amplifiers can be found at www.genesisloudspeakers.com

Lotus

01-02-2008 09:13 PM

Re: Genesis Announces the Reference-series Amplifiers

I had a chance to hear their less expensive Ref Stereo Amp (The $3600 version I believe mentioned in this) and their 6.1 with Ayre Pre-Amp, Ayre CD player, and Isotek power conditioning.

I got a kick out of it. Hard to say what the characteristics were but I wouldn't mind playing with one in my system to find out!

deacongreg

01-03-2008 03:19 PM

Re: Genesis Announces the Reference-series Amplifiers

I like their speakers. Would be nice to hear the amps as well. I`m sure you guys will get a chance to hear them at CES. I remember a while ago Arnie Nudell (of Infinity then) left and went to Genesis. Is he still there?